BOISE — On Monday, the ACLU of Idaho sent a petition with nearly 6,000 signatures to Idaho House leadership, calling on Rep. Priscilla Giddings to resign, and if she refuses, for the legislature to file a formal complaint and open an ethics investigation against her for engaging in conduct unbecoming of an Idaho legislator.

Giddings used public channels to share identifying information about the 19-year-old intern who reported that she was sexually assaulted by former Rep. Aaron von Ehlinger. Last month, von Ehlinger resigned after the House Ethics committee unanimously found that he engaged in “conduct unbecoming of a House member” and recommended expelling him from the legislature.

The petition to demand Giddings also be held accountable was coordinated by several Idaho advocacy organizations and community groups who want to show support and solidarity with the 19-year-old legislative intern, Jane Doe.

More than 3,000 emails have been sent to House members by the Idaho 97 Project, in addition to the petition signatures from the ACLU of Idaho.

Last Thursday, the organizations joined the Idaho Female Veterans Network in calling on the U.S. Air Force, in which Rep. Giddings is a major and a top recruiter (she left active duty in 2014 and now serves in the Air Force Reserves as the Director of Idaho Admissions Liaisons for the Air Force Academy and ROTC), to investigate her. The Idaho Female Veterans Network, which has six chapters and more than 1,000 members in Idaho, will also hold a healing vigil on the Idaho Capitol steps, today, May 17, at 7:00 pm MST.

“Jane Doe trusted her supervisors and the legislature to respect her privacy and treat her with dignity and respect when she came forward about being sexually assaulted by Rep. von Ehlinger,” said Annie Hightower, legal counsel for Jane Doe as director of law and policy for the Idaho Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence. “Instead, Rep. Priscilla Giddings used her state email address and server to publicly identify, mock and further abuse and traumatize her. The House Ethics Committee needs to take action against Rep. Giddings, whose actions are clearly unbecoming of a lawmaker.”

“Idaho Female Veterans Network stands with Jane Doe and all survivors of sexual assault and the retaliation that so often happens when someone is brave enough to report,” said Erin Dominguez, founder of Idaho Female Veterans Network. “Major Giddings must be held accountable by her peers in the legislature and the U.S. military.

“We stand in solidarity with Jane Doe and survivors throughout Idaho who have ever experienced trauma and re-victimization after coming forward to report sexual assault,” said Lauren Bramwell, policy strategist at ACLU of Idaho. “Idahoans deserve to feel safe to come forward to report instances of sexual violence. We applaud the thousands of Idahoans from across the state—folks from different political parties and affiliations—who have come together to demand better of our duly elected officials and to speak out against systemic and institutional violence that is all too familiar to survivors of sexual violence.”

Last week, the Idaho Senate adjourned, but Idaho House members passed House Resolution 4, which allows for recess until Speaker of the House Scott Bedke calls the chamber back to Boise. This means an ethics investigation is still not off the table. The House recess allows lawmakers to go back into session without a signature from Governor Brad Little. Speaker Bedke can make the call no later than Dec. 31.